(CNN) - Sen. Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has pledged to oppose President Barack Obama's nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel for secretary of the Defense Department after a sit-down with Hagel on Tuesday.

"We had a very cordial meeting today in which we discussed his nomination," the Republican senator from Oklahoma said in a statement. "Unfortunately, as I told him during our meeting today, we are simply too philosophically opposed on the issues for me to support his nomination."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - The National Rifle Association released a new television commercial Tuesday night charging President Barack Obama of hypocrisy for being "skeptical" about placing armed guards at schools, while his own two daughters are protected by the U.S. Secret Service.

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" a narrator says in the 30 second ad. "Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools, when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama will unveil Wednesday a package of gun control proposals that, according to a source, will include universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will announce the proposals, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Tuesday.

Washington (CNN) – Lawmakers in the House of Representatives approved measures Tuesday to send more than $50 billion in aid to the Northeastern states ravaged by Superstorm Sandy last fall, though some conservatives in the House were pushing for spending cuts that would offset the cost of the recovery package.

The final bill passed 241-180, with 49 Republicans voting for the measure. The package now heads to the Senate.FULL POST

(CNN) - In a sign of solidarity, President Barack Obama will begin using the standard license plate for the District of Columbia, which famously states "Taxation Without Representation," on presidential vehicles, a White House official confirmed Tuesday.

The move comes after the city council for Washington, D.C. petitioned the president last week through a resolution, demanding that Obama use the license plates as millions watch his presidential motorcade drive down Pennsylvania Avenue for his inauguration on Monday.FULL POST

CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 15, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: MARK SANFORD TO ANNOUNCE RETURN TO POLITICS ON WEDNESDAY… Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will formally announce his campaign for the U.S. House on Wednesday morning, an aide to the governor confirmed. Sanford intends to seek the Republican nomination in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Rep. Tim Scott, who was appointed to the United States Senate late last year by Gov. Nikki Haley. The open House seat has already drawn a bumper crop of possible Republican candidates, including state Sen. Larry Grooms and Teddy Turner, the son of CNN founder Ted Turner. – Peter Hamby

DEVELOPING: WHITE HOUSE GUN ANNOUNCEMENT TO COME WEDNESDAY… President Barack Obama will announce “concrete” proposals to prevent gun violence at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. He will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden. ANNOUNCEMENT LIKELY WILL INCLUDE EXECUTIVE ACTIONS: Gun control proposals put together by Vice President Joe Biden include as many as 19 executive actions that President Barack Obama could take without congressional approval, such as tougher enforcement of existing laws, legislators briefed by Biden said Tuesday. The president could demand that agencies provide data for background checks that are supposed to accompany gun sales, ensuring that information included in the checks is as "comprehensive and complete as possible," Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California told CNN. – Dana Bash, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen

CNN's GUT CHECK | for January 15, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: MARK SANFORD TO ANNOUNCE RETURN TO POLITICS ON WEDNESDAY… Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will formally announce his campaign for the U.S. House on Wednesday morning, an aide to the governor confirmed. Sanford intends to seek the Republican nomination in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Rep. Tim Scott, who was appointed to the United States Senate late last year by Gov. Nikki Haley. The open House seat has already drawn a bumper crop of possible Republican candidates, including state Sen. Larry Grooms and Teddy Turner, the son of CNN founder Ted Turner. – Peter Hamby

DEVELOPING: WHITE HOUSE GUN ANNOUNCEMENT TO COME WEDNESDAY… President Barack Obama will announce “concrete” proposals to prevent gun violence at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. He will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden. ANNOUNCEMENT LIKELY WILL INCLUDE EXECUTIVE ACTIONS: Gun control proposals put together by Vice President Joe Biden include as many as 19 executive actions that President Barack Obama could take without congressional approval, such as tougher enforcement of existing laws, legislators briefed by Biden said Tuesday. The president could demand that agencies provide data for background checks that are supposed to accompany gun sales, ensuring that information included in the checks is as "comprehensive and complete as possible," Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California told CNN. – Dana Bash, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen